Cosmetics represent a multi-billion dollar industry of which finger nail styling is a significant part. Nail salons provide professional services for both finger nail styling (e.g. manicures) and toe nail styling (e.g. pedicures), while a plethora of products and kits may be purchased for home use. Nail styling may include procedures such as filing and shaping of nails, painting of nails with any of a vast assortment of colors and complex patterns, application of small decals or imitation jewels, as well as addition of artificial nail gels, tips, or acrylics, including the well known French Manicure, as just one example.
Among the challenges of nail styling are the relatively small sizes of nails and a desire to avoid accidental contact of nail products, in particular gels and other lacquers, to the skin on either side of a nail (i.e. lateral nail folds), to the cuticle of the nail at the base of the nail plate, or to the skin under the distal end of the nail. The application of a lacquer is customarily performed directly on the nail plate (and/or over other styling products already on the nail plate), requiring a user to use his or her left hand for styling the right hand finger nails, and vice versa. This adds another challenge when an individual lacks dexterity with his or her non dominant hand. Complex nail styling techniques are often limited to professionals at nail salons, where procedures such as applying gels and acrylics involving considerable eye-hand coordination, finesse, experience, and technique. These procedures can be expensive at nail salons, but many nail styling enthusiasts cannot satisfactorily apply gels and acrylics on their own at home. There is therefore an ongoing demand for new tools and techniques which facilitate easier and more efficient application of gels and lacquers to a nail, allowing for improved and repeatable results by home users and professional nail stylists alike.